A brutish boyfriend drank a dozen cans of Stella then attacked his partner and threw her TV out of the window, a court heard.

Stephen Ball was jailed for two years for what a judge at Oxford Crown Court labelled a sustained assault.

Recorder Michael Roques told the 36-year-old: “You pose a risk to members of the public, in particular women that you may be involved in a relationship with.”

The offending was aggravated by his previous record for domestic violence and was so serious that only immediate imprisonment was appropriate, the judge said.

Prosecutor Gary Venturi told the court that Ball had spent the afternoon of September 26, 2020, drinking and playing Monopoly with his partner of around two or three months at her home in Kidlington. He was estimated to have drunk up to 13 cans of beer.

Out of the blue he accused his partner of making fun of him then went upstairs and passed out on the bed.

When he woke up he discovered that his partner, who’d gone out for a kebab, was not in the house. He rang his partner in a rage and the woman explained they’d gone out to buy food.

She returned to find him outside the house, repeating his claim she was making fun of him and threatening to ‘weigh her in’.

His partner left for a friend’s house and Ball called her ‘relentlessly’. When she returned he slapped her in the face.

She came back later in the evening with a friend. Ball lunged for her and she tried to barricade herself in the living room but was overpowered by him. He dragged her by her hair, pulling out several clumps, then grabbed her throat. When he lost his balance, she was able to get away.

Mr Venturi said Ball had also thrown a TV out the window. A bedroom wardrobe was damaged.

The court heard Ball had 10 previous convictions for 13 offences. In 2018, he was given 34 months for attacking a former partner.

Mitigating, Leanne Ballato said her client had long struggled with drugs and alcohol. He was remorseful for what he’d done.

“He’s not proud of that behaviour but completely under the influence of alcohol,” she said.

Ball, of Banbury Road, Oxford, had earlier pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm, criminal damage and failing to surrender. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and given another seven days inside for breaching his bail.

A restraining order prevents him from contacting his victim indefinitely.

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